Riordan at 70: Philip Cazahous ’70

Michael Gray ’20, Opinion Editor
January 13, 2020

Philip Cazahous ’70 is a native San Franciscan and the 2019 recipient of the prestigious William Joseph Chaminade Award. Archbishop Riordan students may recognize his name from the recently installed Cazahous Gate, which leads into the school’s newly constructed football field, a project for which Cazahous was a major donor.

During his time at Riordan, Cazahous was a track and eld star, running a lightning fast 2:03 half mile and a stellar 4:42 mile, feats more impressive considering Riordan’s track, at the time, was made of dirt.

His fondest memories from Riordan center on the people. Cazahous said, “The great friendships I had as a teenager. When graduation occurred, I realized that the high school chapter of life had ended. I was very excited about the next chapter in life, college.”

After his time at Riordan, Cazahous went on to study accounting at the University of San Francisco, graduating with a Bachelors of Science as an Accounting Specialist. Throughout his successful career, he worked in both accounting and real estate. Currently, he is retired, although he is still an active real estate investor.

His dedication to Riordan extends beyond his help in boththe basketball gym and football field renovations, as he is a member of Riordan’s Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is an instrumental group at Riordan that works to provide counsel to the Administration in their pursuit of long-term goals. Cazahous has worked hard for the betterment of Riordan student body and the school they attend.

According to Cazahous, “With encouragement from some great teachers at Riordan, I learned that persistence and hard work can translate to success.”

No matter what industry he works in or where he goes, Cazahous, with his visionary excellence, generous donations of time and resources, and unbridled dedication to Archbishop Riordan, will always have the Purple and Gold blood of a Crusader.